Real Madrid vs Barcelona: 5 reasons why Los Blancos will beat the Blaugrana in El Clasico

It is here, finally! In a few hours, the season’s biggest match will kick off with both Real Madrid and Barcelona desperate to win and get all the three points. Playing at the famous Santiago Bernabeu tonight, Los Blancos will be determined to settle the La Liga title race once and for all.

Probably for the first time in many years, Real Madrid go into these match as slight favourites and Zidane and co will be quietly confident of getting a positive result. Without much ado, let us take a look at 5 reasons why Real Madrid will get the better of Barcelona in El Clasico tonight:

#5 No Neymar

First things first, the most obvious reason: No Neymar. Make no mistake, the Brazilian is probably Barcelona’s most important and influential player currently. Suspended for El Clasico tonight, Real Madrid’s right-back Dani Carvajal will be breathing a sigh of relief at Neymar’s absence.

Capable of taking the bull by the horns, Neymar has a knack of being at his best in the biggest of matches and his absence will certainly be felt by Luis Enrique and Barcelona. Another major issue is the fact that Barcelona do not have any suitable replacement for the Brazilian.

While the likes of Paco Alcacer and Denis Suarez could play in place of the Brazilian, even Barcelona fans will be the first to admit that they have not had very successful seasons. Also, with Arda Turan injured, Luis Suarez suffering a surprising dip in form and Barcelona looking jaded recently, Madrid will be confident of getting a decisive result over their arch rivals.

#4 The Zidane factor and Real Madrid’s squad depth

You do it once or twice you can call it luck, you do it again and again then there is something more than luck at work when Zidane’s Real Madrid play the big matches. Not given enough credit tactically, the French manager has given a very good account of himself in the two previous El Clasicos he has taken charge of.

The move to play Casemiro proved to be a genius decision in his first Clasico and he has generally had the better of Luis Enrique tactically in the two times they have met so far. The fortunes of Real Madrid and Barcelona started to reverse since Zidane masterminded a Clasico win at the Camp Nou last season.

Also, at the moment Real Madrid have a much better squad than their arch rivals. The ability to call on the likes of James Rodriguez, Isco, Marco Asensio and Alvaro Morata from the bench is a luxury no manager in the world has at the moment and one of them can easily come on and tilt the game in Madrid's favour.

It is a scary thought to think that the stars on the Real Madrid bench would probably be the most important player of any other top European team.

#3 Real Madrid’s midfield looks much more threatening than Barcelona’s

In the Juventus vs Barcelona Champions League quarter-final, the best midfielder by far in both the legs was Miralem Pjanic. Andres Iniesta and Ivan Rakitic have looked like pale shadows of themselves while the less spoken about Andre Gomes the better.

Probably, where Barcelona have been hit the most is by the indifferent form of Sergio Busquets. The defensive midfielder is the most vital player for the Barcelona system to work and his questionable form in the latter part of the season has contributed a great deal to Barcelona's troubles.

Real Madrid's midfield, on the other hand, works like a well-oiled machine. Luka Modric and Toni Kroos have been pulling the strings in midfield with consummate ease while Casemiro’s combative performances in midfield have provided the security and cover required for the Real Madrid backline.

Also, with Kovacic, Isco, James and Asensio all waiting on the wings, Los Blancos’ midfield certainly has a much more rounded look than their arch rivals. Big games are usually won by those who win the midfield battle and Real Madrid’s trio of Modric, Kroos and Casemiro look all set to dominate the shaky Barcelona midfield.

#2 Destiny and the curse of the last El Clasico for a Barcelona manager

They say the form book goes out of the window for such matches. While I am not a great believer of that particular statement, there are a lot of people who put faith in such things. Even if the form book does go out of the window, the Blaugrana might be destined to lose the Asturian’s last Clasico as a Barcelona manager.

Barcelona’s previous four managers, Frank Rijkaard, Pep Guardiola, Tito Vilanova and Tata Martino all lost their last El Clasico’s and it looks almost inevitable that Enrique becomes the fifth name on this list.

Barcelona’s previous 4 managers -Rijkaard, Guardiola, Tito and Tata - have all lost their last Clasico.Today's Enrique's last.

— Sripad (@falsewinger) April 23, 2017

With form, injuries and suspensions and now even destiny seemingly going against Barcelona and Luis Enrique, it will take a very brave man indeed to put money on the beleaguered Catalan side in tonight’s El Clasico.

#1 Cristiano Ronaldo is back to his best at exactly the right moment

Many people (myself included) thought that Cristiano Ronaldo’s best days were behind him. The Portuguese star looked off the pace at the beginning of the season and there were quiet remarks that age was catching up with Real Madrid’s talisman.

However, after the turn of the year, Ronaldo has done what he does best – silence the mouths of critics with his amazing performances. Well rested and intelligently handled by Zidane, Ronaldo looks fit and rearing to go and comes to the Clasico in probably the finest form he has been in the entire season.

Since the arrival of Ronaldo to La Liga, the Clasico has often been billed as a battle between Messi and Ronaldo. Taking the past few performances into consideration one might just favour the 32-year old to get the better of the Argentine maestro tonight.

With 5 goals in the two legs against Bayern Munich in the Champions league, Ronaldo will be licking his lips at the prospect of coming up against Barcelona’s fragile defence. Expect some fireworks from the 4 time Ballon d’Or winner tonight.

Prediction: Real Madrid 3 – 1 Barcelona